12.24.11

There’s no Jose Reyes, no money, and almost certainly no Johan Santana by Opening Day for the 2012 New York Mets. In such desperate times, while I’m tempted to cite current circumstances as evidence there is NO GOD, recovering 2B Daniel Murphy, he of serious knee injuries in successive campaigns, tells the New York Daily News’ Anthony McCarron that he’s got a friend in Jeebus Jesus.

“It’s something I grew up with, the church,” Murphy says. “You start stacking up all the things that happened, it really became real to me this offseason.

“I was really tested, especially after this last injury, and my faith has really come out of these injuries and it’s really been blossoming after this last one. It was frustrating, but God has me looking forward. I’ve definitely come to peace with the injuries I’ve had.”

“I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason and it’s led me to this peace,” Murphy adds. “I didn’t have that before. I’m excited and ready to go to work.”

While Murphy knows that 2011 was no banner year in Met history, what with the club’s financial turmoil and the departure of Reyes, he is hoping 2012 can be “an opportunity for younger guys like myself, (Lucas) Duda, (Ruben) Tejada, Ike, to really get established in the big leagues.

“And definitely it’s an opportunity for David (Wright), Jason (Bay) and (Andres) Torres to come in and get where they want to be. I’m a huge believer in David Wright and Jason Bay and I think they will have big years.”